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Date: 06-24-2020
Case Style:
Mary Ann Murray; Lige M. Murray v. BEJ Minerals, LLC; RTWF, LLC
Case Number: 16-35506
Judge: Sidney R. Thomas
Court: United States Court of Appeals on appeal from the United States District Court for the District of Montana
Plaintiff's Attorney: Harlan B. Krogh (argued) and Eric Edward Nord, Crist Krogh
& Nord PLLC, Billings, Montana, for Plaintiffs-Counter-
Defendants-Appellees.
Defendant's Attorney: Eric D. Miller (argued), Perkins Coie LLP, Seattle,
Washington; Shane R. Swindle, Perkins Coie LLP, Phoenix,
Arizona; Brian C. Lake, Perkins Coie LLP, Phoenix, Arizona;
for Defendants-Counter-Claimants-Appellants.
Gary S. Guzy and Pooja S. Kothari, Covington & Burling
LLP, Washington, D.C., for Amici Curiae Paleontological
Societies and Scientific Institutions.
Colleen M. Dowdall, Dowdall Law, Missoula, Montana, for
Amicus Curiae United Property Owners of Montana
(UPOM).
Description:
After granting rehearing en banc in Murray v. BEJ
Minerals, LLC, 908 F.3d 437 (9th Cir. 2018), see Murray v.
BEJ Minerals, LLC, 920 F.3d 583 (9th Cir. 2019), we
certified the following question, an issue of first impression
under Montana law and dispositive of the instant case, to the
Montana Supreme Court:
Whether, under Montana law, dinosaur fossils
constitute “minerals” for the purpose of a
mineral reservation.
Murray v. BEJ Minerals, 924 F.3d 1070, 1074 (9th Cir. 2019)
(citing Mont. R. App. P. 15).
The Montana Supreme Court graciously accepted our
certification request, Murray v. BEJ Minerals, No. 19-0304,
2019 WL 2383604 (Mont. June 4, 2019), and then answered
our certified question, without modification and on the facts
and procedural history provided in our certification order.
See Murray v. BEJ Minerals, LLC, 2020 MT 131, ¶¶ 1–3
(Mont. 2020). It concluded that dinosaur fossils are not
MURRAY 4 V. BEJ MINERALS
within the “ordinary and natural meaning” of “mineral” and,
thus, belong to the surface estate. Id. at ¶ 41. Because Mary
Ann and Lige Murray (the “Murrays”) are the undisputed
owners of the surface estate here, see Murray, 924 F.3d
at 1072, the Supreme Court’s decision requires a resolution
in their favor.
Outcome: Accordingly, the district court’s order granting summary
judgment to the Murrays and declaring them the sole owners
of dinosaur fossils discovered on their ranch, see Murray v.
Billings Garfield Land Co., 187 F. Supp. 3d 1203, 1204 (D.
Mont. 2016), is AFFIRMED.
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: